Rail-joint



(NoMoael.) M. G. SHINDLE.

l RAIL JOINT. No. 344,924. Patented'July 6, 1886.

UNITED STATES PATENT tric.

MICHAEL G. SHINDLE, OF MOUNTVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL-Joann SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 344,924,dated July 6, 1886.

Application filed March 1G, 1886. Serial No. 195,384. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it mayv concern.-

Be it known that I, MICHAEL G. SHINDLE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Mountville, in the county of Lancaster and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRail-Joints; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to rail-joints, and it has for its object toimprove the means for preventing undue wear ofthe ends of the rails atthe joint, undue springing and vibration of the rails when subjected tothe pressure of the passing trains, and lateral and endwise displacementof the rails, while admitting of their expansion and contraction.

To these ends it consists of a combination, with the rails, of abed-plate, two clamping plates, and a wedge-key bolt, constructed andarranged as hereinafter described and claimed.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigures 1, 2, 3, and 4 are perspective views, respectively, of each ofthe locking-plates, the bed-plate, and the wedge-key; Fig. 5, atransverse sectional view of the invention as awhole, and Fig. 6, aplan.

Referring to the drawings, A is a bed-plate to support the rails, andits opposite ends rest on the ties to which it is spiked. It is providedwith shoulders b, which form recesses b b at the center of each side ofthe plate, to receive the clamping-plates C and D. The plates G and Dare designed to take the place of the ordinary fish-plates. The plate Chas its upper portion formed to iit snugly under the head of the rail,against the web and over the foot, and its lower portion extends belowthe bed-plate A, and is provided with'a centrai opening, c', to receivea wedge and another clampingfplatc, as now to be described. The oppositeclampingplate, D, corresponds in form and position with plate C, exceptas to the bottom portion, which is extended across beneath the bed-plateand is provided with ahooked end, ci, which is passed through theopening c in plate C, ,the hook engaging with the side of plate C, belowthe opening. rIhe two plates at their upper portion are secured to theweb of the rail by a screw-bolt,

F, passed through the rails at the joint, the ends of both rails beingrecessed to receive it.

G is a wedge-key, provided at one end with ascrew-threaded projection,h, which is passed through a hole, h', in the plate D,and receives anut, c'. When the wedge and bed-plate are in position the plates C and Dare placed thereon and into the recesses b, and are held by theshoulders b of the bed-plate against endwise movement. The hooked plateD. having been put through the plate C, the wedge G is put through theopening a in plate C, resting on the bottom portion of plate D andagainst the upper surface of the bed-plate, and driven in until thescrew-threaded end 71, passes through the hole inthe plate D, where itis supplied with a nut,and further tightened by turning the nut.Astructure is thus formed which is simple, strong, and efficient inevery respect. The ends of the rails are always held level, and anytendency to looseness or displacement of the parts can be at oncecorrected by tightening the screw-bolt passing through the plates andrails/and also by tightening, if necessary, the wedge-key.

What I claim is- 1. A rail-joint composed, in combination with therails, of a bed-plate on which the rails rest, two clampingplates, saidbed-plate recessed to receive the clamping-plates, and one of whichplates passes beneath the bed-plate and engages with the oppositeclamping-plate.

`and a wedge adapted to pass through the clamping-plates and directlybeneath the bedplate, and to be tightened from the outside of one of theclampingplates, substantially as described.

2. A rail-joint comprising, in combination, the rails, theclamping-plates C and D, the plate D being provided with a hooked end toengage with plate C, the screw-bolt uniting the rails and said plates atthe joint, the bedplate, and the wedge provided with a screwthreadedprojection inserted through the said plates between the Vbed-plate andone of the olampingplates, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MICHAEL G. SIIINDLE.

Witnesses:

WiLLIAM WATTZ, GHAs. R. KLINE.

